New flight rule good for safety, bad for scheduling

December 07, 2006|By FROM NEWS SERVICES

A new flight rule in effect this winter will improve safety but also wreak havoc with airline schedules at Midway during bad weather when aircraft-braking action is less than good, officials said Wednesday.

The warning to travelers at Midway and other airports with relatively short runways was issued two days before the first anniversary on Friday of the crash of Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 at Midway.

On Dec. 8, 2005, a Southwest Boeing 737-700 overran Midway's longest runway while landing in a snowstorm, rolled through fences and struck two vehicles outside the airport on Central Avenue. A 6-year-old Indiana boy in one car was killed.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a recommendation after the accident asking airlines to add a 15 percent safety margin into landing-distance calculations, to ensure that planes are able to fully stop on runways contaminated with ice or snow.

A plane that is either too heavy or cannot land on a short runway using the expanded stopping-distance standard would be forced to divert to another airport with longer runways, such as O'Hare, or stay on the ground at its departure airport until the weather improves, officials said.

"The main impact to our operations will be felt on our shorter runways when 'fair' and 'poor' braking conditions exist," read a Southwest memo to its airport station employees.

"We are aware of and expect the possibility of disruptions to our service in [Midway] or any city where the primary runway is not available for use," the memo stated.

All except one of the major airlines in the U.S. are voluntarily complying with the FAA safety recommendation this winter, said FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory.

Northwest Airlines is still working with the FAA regarding its fleet of DC-9 planes, Cory said. Other Northwest aircraft are covered by the voluntary compliance.